Serial stalking of mental health professionals: Case presentation, analysis, and formulation using the Guidelines for Stalking Assessment and Management (SAM)

The present article illustrates the use of the Guidelines for Stalking Assessment and Management (SAM; Kropp, Hart, & Lyon, 2008) to assess violence risk and recommend management strategies in a case of stalking. Through this case analysis we will also highlight and try to better understand the phenomenon of stalking of mental health professionals by their clients. The case study under examination involves a perpetrator who, over the course of multiple decades, stalked 4 mental health professionals whom she had sought out and seen for therapy. The SAM is a violence risk assessment instrument for stalking. Designed in the structured professional judgment framework, the SAM contains 6 steps. The SAM was completed by 2 individuals trained in its use and in violence risk assessment generally and reviewed by 1 of the authors of the SAM.The results present the analysis of each of the 6 steps, identifying key risk factors and motivations for the stalking behavior and recommending management strategies to end the stalking behavior. The discussion highlights research needed to compare available methods for assessing risk in stalking cases and describes wider applications for the findings with respect to the stalking of mental health professionals.